Trip to Mexico

When last we saw her, Pretty Pretty Princess or La Princesa Bonita had gotten her tee shirts and first aid kits and long-enough skirt into her bags, hopeful that they weighed less than 50 pounds, though not at all reassured by multiple home-style weigh-ins. ALSO reaffirming that she could carry everything herself...always. Forever and ever. Amen.

From this blazing hot parking lot they loaded their stuff into Vans - to - GO! Some very gracious parents drove said Vans! to an airport 175 miles away ( it is phenomenally less expensive to fly from there than from our little corner of the world). From cheaper-airport, they flew to Houston, then flew on another plane to Mexico, and bussed to the school where these 30 missionaries, flags in hand, would have a mini-Olympics Bible School affair. In Spanish. One of her jobs is going to be organizing a game with Mexican children who speak no English. She was planning a combo of her Spanish III vocabulary, hand signs and body language. She knows the conjugation of every single one of the tenses in Spanish - active and passive, including the subjunctive - but is not sure she can use her Spanish to direct small children to play a playground game. Not kidding.

She was thrilled when her buddies started arriving. After all those meetings, it was good to see that all the friends had ACTUALLY packed up their stuff and were going to REALLY make the trip. Also, she was checking out the potential empty space in the others' bags, in case hers was too heavy and she might have to pay extra. Also, potentially holding everyone up. Totally embarrassing.

PPP wasn't the only one glad to see friends show up.

BFFKP brought her nieces and nephews....to stand in the blazing sun on the hot parking lot. Look closely to see how delighted the little ones were to be there How is it that a young man like Matty can have full blown conversations with Mom without looking at her?

Our friend, Little Bear was so busy glaring at the camera, he certainly had no time to look at Mom. Wonder what she's thinking there? Is she trying to figure out which of her multiple bags has her passport in it? Considering one more fast conversation with The Sophisticate, en route to Chicago? Thinking in Spanish? We'll never know, will we? She's far, far away. And not calling me Mommy.Yep, there's the guitarra, which means at least ONE worship leader is present. Tenemos musica! Vamos a cantar. Now THAT will count as an extra bag, wonder if he's got that figured out. If not, PPP can give him the intricacies, she's been researching it for DAYS.

And here's the other worship leader, looking all peppy and enthusiastic. We've already established that Little Bear is in the midst of Total Physical Exhaustion. Expressive glaring into the camera, Little Bear.

What a sweet friend, EShap! She came to say good-bye! Thanks for coming to the sauna, I mean the parking lot. Bye-bye, sweet friend, love you.And back to milling around, looking for shade and waiting.HOLD ON! This is the 3rd of PPP's lacrosse team to arrive. Are we on the right trip?
Still more milling - the parents are getting hot... and giving instructions. . .
...everyone's getting hot. Including PPP . . .

This is the sainted leader, and he's taking up the passports. PPP has checked at least 14 times to make sure she has it in one of her many bags that she can carry all by herself for the whole trip.And indeed she does.How nice, they agreed to line up and smile. Actually, it was a glimpse of a smile from Little Bear....THEN smile, smile, smile. But still. Thanks, missionaries. You look like you're off to save the world. Or conduct the Olympics in Merida.

And......she's off.


She never looked back.